Skin Issues Celebrities Don't Want in the Spotlight

Celebrity skin may always seem perfect, but don’t be fooled. Highly paid makeup artists and creative retouching in PhotoShop can make bad skin look flawless in front of the camera and in the pages of your favorite magazines. Celebrities like Brad Pitt, LeAnn Rimes, and others struggle with skin issues that can affect anyone, such as acne and psoriasis. Take a look at these stars with problem skin and find out how their common conditions are managed.

Cameron Diaz: Acne

Cameron Diaz is one of many Hollywood stars whose skin is plagued by acne. Acne can occur when too much oil on the face builds up and clogs pores, resulting in pimples that can be tough to hide. A good skin care routine can help to care for bad skin, and to get acne under control, a dermatologist can prescribe topical treatments, antibiotics, and even certain types of birth control pills to prompt celebrity skin (and yours, too) to clear up.

LeAnn Rimes: Psoriasis

Country singer LeAnn Rimes has to hide her skin when she experiences psoriasis flares. Psoriasis is a skin disease that causes reddened, itchy, and scaly patches to break out across the body. There is no cure for psoriasis, but it can be managed with topical treatments, oral and injected medications, and phototherapy, which help to prevent psoriasis flare-ups.

Seal: Discoid Lupus

Singer Seal's face has visible scars from discoid lupus, a chronic skin condition that causes inflamed sores to appear on the skin. These sores may eventually leave deep scars. The use of cortisone ointment and injections directed at the sores can help to reduce sore scarring and visibility. Other drugs used to treat discoid lupus include isotretinoin (Accutane), hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil), and acitretin (Soriatane).

Ewan McGregor: Skin Cancer

Actor Ewan McGregor revealed in 2008 that he had a mole removed from his face due to skin cancer. The surgery left a scar that can be difficult to hide when it's in the spotlight. Skin cancer scars may be reduced through the use of lasers, dermabrasion (a technique that removes layers of skin), or injections with a filler to plump up depressions in the skin and reduce the appearance of scarred skin.

Renée Zellweger: Rosacea

This Academy Award-winning actress is just one of many celebrities said to have the skin condition rosacea, with its telltale rosy, red cheeks. Rosacea causes redness and persistent flushing of the skin, especially on the face. Zellweger can protect her skin with topical creams, cleansers, moisturizers, medication, and possibly the short-term use of cortisone cream or even pulsed light treatments. Rosacea can also be hidden using makeup, as long as it doesn't aggravate the condition.

Morgan Freeman: Dermatosis Papulosa Nigra

Veteran actor Morgan Freeman's face is recognizable from the many blockbuster movies he's starred in over his distinguished career. It's also characterized by dermatosis papulosa nigra, a skin condition that creates dark raised areas, most often in people with darker skin tones. Laser treatment can help minimize these dark marks.

Brad Pitt: Acne

Often voted one of the sexiest men alive, Brad Pitt has a much-admired face — but you may not know that he sports scars that are a result of many years of acne. Today, acne can be better controlled with medications as well as careful skin care. Not picking at blemishes will significantly help reduce scarring from this type of problem skin. Laser treatments can also help to minimize the appearance of acne scars and clear up bad skin.

Lee Thomas: Vitiligo

Journalist Lee Thomas wrote Turning White: A Memoir of Change about his struggles with the skin condition vitiligo. Vitiligo causes patches of skin to lose their pigment. Though Thomas covers up his discolored patches with makeup so that his problem skin isn’t visible, light treatments and topical medications can help to treat vitiligo. There is no cure for this skin issue, but the affected skin sometimes returns to its natural color without treatment.

This site complies with the HONcode standard for trustworthy health information: verify here.

Advertising Notice

This Site and third parties who place advertisements on this Site may collect and use information about
your visits to this Site and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of
interest to you. If you would like to obtain more information about these advertising practices and to make
choices about online behavioral advertising, please click here.